Stairs of Fire
by Zero12
Summary: What if James had gone after Angela? AngelaJames fic! R&R! If I get enough reviews, I may consider a sequel!


James waded through the water until he came to the stairwell door. Reaching down, he turned the nob and pulled the door open. Immediately the heat him like a car. He was about to turn around when he saw a person in there. It was.Angela. James walked in and closed the door behind him.  
  
"Mama! Mama, I was looking for you. Now you're the only one left." Angela cried gleefully.  
  
James was stunned at this turn of events. Angela must have lost her to mind to think he was her mother.  
  
"Maybe then.maybe then I can rest," Angela said, her voice as soft and light as a feather. If letting her think he was her mother would bring Angela happiness, James would play along with it. He kept his mouth shut, not wanting to awake Angela to the harsh reality they were in.  
  
However, James couldn't help but back up as Angela drew closer to him. He didn't want to move, but his body made him His feelings were at war with his actions. Angela became frantic now, closing in quicker. "Mama, why are you running away?" Angela stepped forward and placed her hand on James' cheek. She gasped as the visage of her mother vanished, being replaced by that of James'.  
  
"Wait, you're not my Momma..It's you. I, I'm sorry, " Angela said as she backed away from James, slowly walking back up to level with that painting of the mutated face. James looked at the painting again.it wasn't a face, it was one of those door creatures, dead and nailed to the wall surrounded by a wooden border you'd hang a painting in.  
  
"Angela..no," James replied, extending his left arm and taking a step forward. Angela turned away, staring at the doorman.  
  
"Thank you for saving me," Angela said, her voice sounding accusing, as if James had done something wrong by rescuing her, "But I wish you hadn't." James could see she was on the verge of tears. "Even Mama said it..I deserved what happened."  
  
James didn't believe it. "No Angela, that's not true!"  
  
Angela raised her hand, "No, don't pity me. I'm not worth it." Dropping her hand to her chest, Angela turned and sneered at James. "Or maybe you think you can save me? Will you love me? Take care of me? Heal all my pain?" Angela asked, sarcastically.  
  
James wanted to reply with all his heart, but he couldn't. He didn't want to make another empty promise. He had promised to take care of Mary and he had broken that promise.he had killed her.  
  
"That's what I thought," came Angela's harsh reply.  
  
All he could do was let his head hang low as Angela looked at him.  
  
"James." James looked up as Angela called his name. "Give me back that knife."  
  
James thought about the knife he kept inside his coat pocket, the one he had taken from her back in the apartment complex. James took a step back, away from Angela. "No...I, I wont."  
  
"Saving it for yourself? Angela inquired.  
  
James was stunned by her question. He had never thought of suicide before. "Me? No, I'd never kill myself."  
  
Angela didn't reply, instead she turned away from James and started walking up the steps into the fiery abyss. A few seconds later, a wall of fire sprang up barring James from going after her.  
  
"It's hot as hell in here." James stated, sweat racing down his forehead. His clothes were beginning to cling to his skin like a man to the edge of a cliff.  
  
"You see it too? For me it's always like this." Angela said, her voice becoming exasperated. James could tell the smoke was getting to her, she had to have inhaled quite a bit.  
  
James thought for a second, then decided, he had to do it. "No Angela.not anymore." James took off his coat and hung it over his head and arms like a shield. He then broke out into a run and jumped through the fire barrier. Upon his arrival on the other side, James tossed the burning jacket aside and ran up the stairs. As he did, various objects fell from his pockets, his guns, the health drinks, the various first aid kits. He didn't care, he wouldn't need them anymore.  
  
"Ah!" James cried out as a flame struck his arm. As he ran up the steps, the flames seemed to lash out at him to prevent him from reaching Angela. "Angela.stop!"  
  
Angela Orosco turned around and looked at James, confused. A second later, she collapsed. This only encouraged James to run faster. He ignored the flames and heat as he ran up the steps with increased speed. It seemed like an eternity before he reached her. With a tear running down his cheek, he kneeled down and carefully picked Angela up as if she were a baby. "Yes Angela...I will love you and care for you."  
  
He eyes fluttered open and she looked at James, smiling.  
  
"Please...save me again," Angela managed to say before passing out again.  
  
James looked up as he heard the sound of wood cracking. "No!" James cried as a beam from the roof came crashing down. He dropped Angela to the floor and threw himself over her as a shield. His eyes closed tight, James waited in fear for the beam to smack his back, he waited for the pain.but it never came. As he opened his eyes, he saw he and Angela were no longer on the burning stairwell, but they were now in a room...a very familiar room. James stood to his knees and there, resting against the back wall on a bed was Mary, the one person he had been looking for this entire time.  
  
"Mary? You're alive? But how? I killed you..."  
  
Mary slowly turned her head and faced James. Her hair was sopping wet from sweat, her face bloody. The skin was peeling all over her body. This was how she was, right before he had killed her. She was still at the mercy of that damned disease.  
  
"James...you have suffered enough. You need not hold yourself responsible for my death anymore." Mary looked past James at the unconscious Angela. "You've found love again. She needs your help James. Take her, take her away from here and make a new life for the both you."  
  
"But Mary, what about you?"  
  
Mary turned away from James. "I'm dead, you know that. You have to move on. Goodbye, James..." And with that statement, a bright, white flash filled the room. When James finally came too, he found he was once again the in the graveyard where he had first met Angela. Lying next to him, still unconscious, was Angela. He reached over and felt for a pulse, fearing she was dead. James breathed a sigh of relief when he discovered she was still alive. James once again picked Angela up and left the graveyard, walking back down the forest path eventually arriving at his car. He sat her in the passenger seat and strapped on her seatbelt. He walked around and got in. James turned the car on and drove away, far from Silent Hill.  
  
As he drove, the fog began to clear up. He couldn't help but think about it. He had come back to Silent Hill in hopes of finding his dead wife. Instead, he had found new love. 


End file.
